NOTE: The following is a guest post from Kris Richards. Original article here.

First off, let me say that I’m on a VZW Note 2 (SCH-i605) completely stock 4.1.1. I modified the wireless charging pins underneath the rear casing. Tutorials for that are on YouTube :

This will only work without modification on the International version (N7100 and N7105) and AT&T (i317). You can search XDA for tutorials on how to make wireless charging work on other versions. I’m not an electrician nor do I have any tools to test things so if you want to know current ratings or anything like that I’m sorry.Here is the link you can purchase this set-up at

Delivery time and Pricing:
I placed my order with fasttech.com on Feb. 18 2013. I used the coupon code “CPASTE13SPRING” to save a few bucks. Normal price for both the Qi patch and charging plate is $47.90 ($14.80 for just the patch and $34.82 for just the charging plate). Free Worldwide shipping. Delivery time was about normal from China (delivery time could have been affected by Chinese New Year). It was delivered on March 4th (14 days from order date). Packaging was not bad, better than what you’d expect from China.

Charging times:
50%-100%: 3 Hours 10 min.
86%-96%: 46 min.
86%-100%: 58 min.
On average I’ve been seeing about 15% an hour which is on par with other more expensive Qi chargers. I know that for rooted users some ROMs allow faster charging so that might be something to look into if you’re rooted. I’ll also try to get a stat from <5%-100%.

Pros:
1. Price is definitely the biggest pro I can see. As far as I can tell it’s the exact same items that sell on eBay and elsewhere for almost triple the cost of this set-up.
2. Qi patch and plate don’t feel cheap. Although they’re inexpensive and although I haven’t been using them long, they feel like they’ll hold up a while.
3. I can confirm that you can have a UAG case or Androidified TPU case on and it will still charge wirelessly. Not sure about Otterbox Defender or Commuter, you might search around if you’re curious.
4. As with all other Qi receivers (correct me if I’m wrong), you can position your phone in any direction and it will still charge fine. This is very convenient as you can just throw it on there and start charging.

Cons:
1. Placement is a little tricky if you have a case on. As I mentioned above, it will indeed charge with cases on it, but so far I’ve had to reposition it a few times before it would begin charging. As long as you’re not too impatient, this isn’t that big of a deal. (Easier than having to take the case off)
2. Delivery time. This could go either way for some. 2 weeks is about normal for delivery from China and it sure beats paying a lot more elsewhere. Me being the impatient person I am, this falls under the con category.
3. As you can see in the pictures, the charging plate does not use a micro-usb for power. Again, this isn’t that big of a deal just a minor inconvenience if you’re traveling with it.

Bottom Line:
This is a great purchase in my opinion. If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to take advantage of Qi wireless charging then I’d highly recommend this. I haven’t had this very long and these are my first impressions, so I will post back with further comments on this review. As long as you don’t mind waiting a couple weeks and aren’t in a big rush while charging your phone, this is an awesome buy.

2 COMMENTS

To the other commenter, obviously the charging pad needs power. This isn’t magic.

I purchased this hoping to rig it up in the car- after my gps was stolen I’ve been using my phone for navigation, which is hell on the battery.

Out of the box, my note2 dropped on this pad from 97% to 96% in a few minutes streaming pandora with the gps open.

I ripped the base apart and its an anemic source coil- but it’s right in the center. I lined it up perfectly with the coil in the phone and it seems to be holding steady- which is better than nothing, but hardly what I’d consider a wireless charger.

Using a battery app, I measured my drain with these applications open at 720mA, roughly 23% of my phones capacity per hour.
On the charging pad, it says “status:discharging AC plugged”. After about 10 minutes the discharge rate dropped to about -370mA, and after another 10 it moved up to 253mA.

I think if I pull the coil and mount it right on the face of a windshield mount getting it a little closer it might be usable, but overall I’m not too happy with this product.